Israel has made regular incursions into Syrian territory since December 2024 [Getty]
Talks between Syria and Israel aimed at reaching a security agreement have “reached a dead end”, the Israeli public broadcaster Kan reported on Monday evening, citing unnamed Israeli sources.
It added that Israeli officials have rejected Syrian President Ahmed Al-Sharaa’s demand for a withdrawal from all the positions in Syria that Israel occupied in and after December 2024, when the regime of former dictator Bashar al-Assad fell.
Israel has occupied the Syrian Golan Heights since the 1967 Arab-Israeli war. After Assad’s fall it claimed that a 1974 UN-brokered disengagement agreement with Syria was no longer active and proceeded to occupy more Syrian territory, while launching airstrikes on Syrian military facilities.
According to the sources which spoke to Kan, Israel “will withdraw from only some of these positions in exchange for a full peace agreement with Syria, not a security agreement,” adding that “no such agreement is currently on the horizon.”
While Sharaa has offered Israel a security deal, he has ruled out a full peace agreement and normalisation so long as Israel continues to occupy the Golan Heights. Israel has rejected any withdrawal from the territory.
US Syria envoy Tom Barrack had been leading efforts to negotiate a security deal in recent months with indications at times that the deal was close, amid meetings between Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani and now-resigned Israeli Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer.
However, the latest reports appear to contradict this, amid continued Israeli incursions into Syrian territory.
The stalling of negotiations comes amid a visit by a Russian technical and military delegation to Quneitra province near the Golan Heights.
Sources who spoke to the New Arab’s sister site Al-Araby Al-Jadeed suggested that this step is related to border security arrangements.